(A/N): And here's the last of the main cast. No more lengthy introductions to sit through. There's a poll on my profile and it's currently deadlocked so you would be doing me a great service if you would GO AND VOTE!

Chapter X

*thump*

The dull sound of a wood sword hitting a leather shield echoed through the small yard. Two girls stood facing each other with practice weapons in hand. One was taller than the other by a good margin. This taller girl had long straight ebony hair that flowed down her back ending just above her waist. Strands stuck out here and there caused by her hair moving during her fight. She had on black knee length skirt and a dark red shirt. Her hourglass figure was highlighted by her shirt and the sweat from training gave her skin a soft glow in the sunlight. A black gloved hand gripped the leather wrapped hilt of the long wooden sword. Her pale complexion was made apparent by the dark clothes that she wore. Golden eyes held a fiery rage back as she looked over at her opponent.

Amber colored eyes of the other girl stared back at the raven haired swordswoman. In contrast to the gold eyes filled with fire, these eyes were calm and knowing reading her opponent as they stood there. Her hair, a light blue bordering on white, was pulled up into a ponytail, held up by a small plain silver clip left by her mother, that ended just below her neck. In her left hand she held a sword, shorter than the weapon her foe held, and in her right was a leather shield. Like the other girl she had on a pair of gloves to help with the blisters that fighting would bring. Her outfit consisted of a black tight fitting shirt, which showed off her not-so-well endowed chest, and a white skirt that mirrored her opponent's in length.

"Damn that shield of yours," the black haired girl muttered.

"You would do well to get one for yourself Luna," replied the amber eyed girl.

"Bah, who needs defense when you can ATTACK!" Luna charged as she shouted. Wood met with leather once more as Luna's sword was blocked. She had put enough strength behind her attack that she was able to push her foe back enough to weaken her footing. Attempting to seize the opportunity Luna tried to press her attack but got a blow to the side as a reward. Clutching her injured side with her free hand Luna took a few steps back. "Gods Lucia, that hurt like hell. Hold back some at least."

"What are you complaining about? I hit you back with the same force you attacked me with. If you had a shield or were quicker on your feet you might have been able to block that," Lucia spoke calmly. Nothing in her voice gave the impression she was talking down to Luna, she was simply giving her thoughts on the matter. Her calm delivery did nothing but upset Luna.

"Come on Sis, I knew you'd block it and be fine. I was just trying to get you off balance." Luna stood ready as she prepared herself for another short round with her half-sister.

It was a bit of a scandalous story but the short version of it was that Lucia's mother had run away not long after she was born leaving her alone with her father. By the time Lucia was two her father had remarried and Luna was born. Their father had Giganto blood coursing through his veins and had passed this trait on to both of his daughters giving them a strength beyond what they looked like they were capable of. Luna had gotten a larger share of the blood and so her height was above average for a girl of nineteen, Lucia had most certainly not gotten the height of a Giganto. Both had gotten an equal amount of strength from their blood, Luna's was stronger only because she fought monsters while Lucia worked the family forge. That isn't to say running the forge wasn't a physically demanding job.

Gripping her sword firmly Luna looked her sister over trying to find a weak spot in her stance. While Lucia didn't fight monsters for a living she still practiced her swordsmanship. Both girls had wanted to join the town guard but as the older sister Lucia was the one chosen to run the shop after their father's death and so she spent her days alongside her dad working the forge. Lucia had talked her dad into letting her keep training so that she could better understand what a sword needed as a weapon rather than simply hammer out metal into a vague shape of a blade.

Knowing that Lucia wouldn't be coming at her anytime soon, Luna again was the one to close the distance between them. Using her sword's, and her arm's, longer reach Luna did her best to keep away from Lucia's own sword. It worked for a few blows but Lucia drew in closer to make use of her own sword rather than continuously blocking with her shield. With a downward strike Lucia went to hit Luna on the shoulder. Able to react fast enough Luna went to block the blow with her own blade, the wooden swords were unable to stand up to the force. Shattering, the practice blades sent splinters in all directions as they broke in two. Without a weapon Luna was left wide open to an attack by Lucia. The older sister slammed her shield into Luna knocking the younger girl down to the ground. Dropping to her knees Lucia straddled her sister and put what was left of her sword against Luna's neck.

"You win," Luna growled in defeat. Lucia removed her sword from Luna's throat and stood up. Dropping the now useless weapon to the ground she held out her hand to assist her sister in getting up. Not one to be rude to her family Luna took Lucia's hand.

Dusting herself off with her free hand Luna gripped her broken sword in anger. It was normal for her to lose to Lucia in a one on one match but that didn't make it any easier to deal with. As a warrior Luna made her money off of slaying monsters, taverns were great places to find an angry merchant willing to pay outrageous amounts of gold for the death of monsters. To be so easily beaten by her sister was a testament to the training that Lucia put herself through each day after work, that and Luna's attitude towards fighting. Unlike Lucia, Luna appreciated the full extent of her natural strength and relied on that more than tactics to get her through a fight. So far it had served her well out in the area around town as she took down monsters, but it had yet to win her a fight against her older sister.

"Luna," Lucia placed her hand on the taller girl's shoulder. "I keep telling you that your strength isn't enough to win you a fight. It will get you killed one of these days. You might not think about this but Dad does every time you head out."

"I don't take on monsters that I can't beat," Luna retorted. "Knowing my limits is part of taking on these odd jobs." It had taken a few hard lessons and a few stitches but Luna had found out where her skill level was when compared to the monsters that roamed the wilds around their fair city. She was able to take on most anything without much worry but a few Lizard Men and anything ghostly was too much of a match. The Lizard Men fought in groups and actually had brains enough to use that to their advantage. Ghosts were immune to most physical strikes and Luna didn't possess strong enough magic deal with them single handedly.

A crash echoed from inside the house causing the conversation between the two to drop as they ran to check what had happened. Once inside the house they looked for the source of the crash but couldn't find anything that was amiss. More worried than before both girls headed towards the forge, which was supposed to be vacant at the time, to find the cause of the noise. Lying underneath a pile of damaged chestplates was a young man about the same age as Lucia. His hand and messy yellow hair was all either could see of him but it took no guesswork to figure out who it was. Only one person was dumb enough to try and sneak into the forge on a day it was closed.

"Ronald," Luna sighed as she effortlessly pulled him out of the mess he had created. Lucia let out a groan of annoyance as she fears were confirmed. Ronald was a guy that had for the past five years attempted to court Lucia and had been failing horribly. He wasn't a pathetic man, as long as it didn't come to Lucia, in fact he was a pretty wealthy merchant. Most of his contacts he had gotten from his father before moving but he had made his own business decisions and built up a small network of his own. His average looks left something to be desired but when the women of the town caught wind of his rather large bank account their tune changed. A few girls weren't swayed by his wallet or charm and it's only natural to want things that you can't have so Ronald had set his sights on Lucia.

"Do I hear the song that is my sweet Lucia's voice?" If he had been knocked out by the armor he showed no negative effects as he scrambled to get up and locate Lucia. Rather than finding her though Ronald came face to face with Luna. Now Ronald wasn't a tall man by any stretch of the imagination, in fact he was quite the opposite. Being a descendant of a Minito and Human had made sure that Ronald would be anything but tall. What this meant was the when he was looking Luna in the eye, his feet floated in the air around the same height as Luna's waist.

"I'm going to check on dinner," Lucia told Luna as she completely ignored the man her sister was holding.

"Be there in a bit, just got to clean up and get rid of a rather large bug." Without a response or so much as an acknowledgment Lucia headed into the house leaving Luna to deal with Ronald. Setting the man down Luna debated tossing him out the door instead. After so many times of getting shot down over the years one would have thought that Ronald would have gotten the idea and moved on in his life, some tough love would probably do him some good. On the other hand he did just get crushed under a heavy metal and probably would get truly hurt if she literally tossed him out of the house.

"Oh Luna, what must I do to win your sister's heart?" Ronald asked dramatically.

"First off, talk like a normal person." Whenever he got near Lucia his speech changed to what any person would call annoying and it certainly wasn't helping the his chances with Lucia. "Second, it's never gonna happen Ronald. You've been after her since she was sixteen and you've made literally no progress in getting her attention. Any reasonable man would have given up by now and moved on to any of the other woman that are vying for his attention."

"Are you jealous that your sister is getting all th-" Luna's fist connected with Ronald's stomach as she let go of his shirt. No longer held up by Luna the merchant had no choice but to fall down to the ground and clutch his gut. Comparing one sister to the other was never a good idea, physically not a good idea if you were doing it in the presence of Luna.

Picking one of the swords that were hanging on the wall Luna pointed the dull blade at Ronald. "It'd be a good idea to get out of the house about now." Pushing past the pain still coursing through his stomach Ronald scampered to the door and all but flew out of the room in an attempt to put as much distance between him and Luna as was possible. Shaking her head Luna hung the sword back up and set about putting all the armor back up on the stands so her father could get to them. Thankfully they were ones that were already damaged so the fall didn't leave any imprints that would need to be hammered or buffed out.

Once she had cleared most of the armor out of the way Luna noticed a small package on the ground. From how nicely it was wrapped it no doubt came from Ronald and was yet another gift for Lucia. Pocketing the box Luna finished her task and was even kind enough to sweep up a bit before heading into the main part of the house. Faint smells of the stew Lucia had started fixing wafted through the house. While her cooking wouldn't win any awards it certainly was better than anything that Luna might try and cook. Few times that Luna had been allowed to try her hands at cooking had ended in disastrous results for everyone involved. Even simple noodle dishes were beyond Luna's meager cooking ability.

Standing by the wood fueled stove, some of the richer folk had stoves that ran on magicite, was Lucia who was now dressed in an apron. Sitting at the table Luna placed the box in front of her and studied it. Lucia's stew had been simmering for a few hours on a low heat so that the two girls could go out into the yard and spar. It was close enough to done that Luna knew she wouldn't have much time to do anything else but wait until it was time to eat. Their father was out around the town at the moment delivering a few items that he had repaired to the guards but had promised to be home in time for a meal. With nothing to do and no one to talk to, Lucia wasn't much of a conversationalist, Luna had nothing more to do than try to figure out what Ronald had brought this time for her sister.

"Hey Lucy, mind if I open this?" Luna held the small box out to show the other girl. Lucia shrugged, she was over Ronald trying to win her with gifts. Satisfied with her sibling's response Luna tore the thin paper that was wrapped around the box. As one might expect from a wealthy merchant such as Ronald, even the box was well crafted with gold trim on the edges. Opening the small case up Luna's breath caught as she got a look at what was nestled inside. Sitting on a velvet cushion was the largest gem that Luna had ever seen. Taking out the item Luna looked at it in the light. The green gem was large enough that Luna could only just close her hand around it, her middle finger and thumb barely able to touch. Its beauty came from how it looked to have mist swirling inside of it.

"Oh my," Lucia whispered in shock as she caught sight of the sphere her sister was holding. No matter how she appeared to others Lucia did indeed have a feminine side and it came out when she saw things as beautiful as the gem in Luna's hand.

"Ronald really did good this time Lucy." Neither girl was able to take their eyes of the gleaming stone that caught the light of the house turning a deep green color. "Seeing as how you just send his gifts back anyways do you mind if I keep this one?" Luna's attitude called for her to toss the sphere into the air and catch it in an attempt to show how little she cared about Lucia's decision. She couldn't do it with the item she held, it was too valuable to mess around with. True there was no price tag on the gem but it didn't take gemcutter to see that the amount of gold this particular item was valued at was rather high.

"No," Lucia quickly stated. More slowly she added, "It is a very beautiful and Ronald did intend for me to have it. It'd be rude not to accept such a gift."

"Oh, finally warming up to little Ronald are we Sis?" Luna teased as she passed over the orb. It was Luna's right as a sister to tease Lucia no matter the situation, a point she enjoyed far too often.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that." Lucia took the gem and held it in her hands. When Lucia held the orb she didn't feel any power seeping out of it like she could when holding magicite but she had never seen a natural stone look like the one she was currently holding. She wanted to know just where exactly Ronald had gotten it but that was going to have to wait until he came back with another attempt to win her over. A large part of her wanted to keep the gem but she knew that if she did then Ronald would only get more aggressive with his courting, she was going to have to give it back to him when she next saw him. This wasn't going to stop her from admiring the item until such a time mind you.

The rest of the night passed by without much happening. Their father came home in time for food just as he said he would. After hearing about Ronald sneaking into the forge and the gift he had left behind he had urged his daughters to return the stone no matter its worth if Lucia had no intentions of letting the "poor fellow" court her. After cleaning up they all headed to go do their own thing. Checking the inventory, doing a bit of light housework, some time was even spent by Luna to sew a new skirt while Lucia had a small sketchbook in front of her. It was one of the things the girls did together, Lucia would sketch a new outfit and Luna would be the one to make it. All of their clothes had been made by Luna and thought up by Lucia. When it was late enough all three headed to bed, the girls having to share a room. A few fights had happened because of that fact but nothing they hadn't been able to get over.

-o-O-o-

It was midday and Luna didn't have any jobs lined up at the moment so she was helping out at the forge. She didn't have her father's of Lucia's skill with the hammer but she was still able to work the bellows and bring them materials they needed. If there wasn't such a large order of blades Luna would have been out at the taverns but as it stood they needed the extra pair of hands if they wanted to be done in time. Not only that Luna would be the one to deal with any customers should they come in. She was able to take care of sharpening and a few other small requests but anything larger and she'd have to recommend one of the other smiths in town as they were too busy to deal with an order.

Today it seemed that the world knew the shop was busy as Luna had to deal with very few people. Most were easily forgotten travelers that wanted to browse the small stock the shop had at the moment. Most of what they had on display was the common and easily turned out items that any smith could mass produce with relative ease. The more expensive items were hidden in the back, some of them in boxes and the really expensive ones hung up to prevent any damage to the weapon. it was a standard business tactic and the masses knew to ask for the more well crafted items if they were looking for something stronger than an average weapon. Most of the armor wasn't on display at all, their father only made those on request so that they would actually fit the people who bought them. Always he made sure to measure the person so he could make the best fitting armor for them. His weapons may have been above average but his real pride came in from his armor.

It wasn't until Luna was about to lock the door that any one of interest came in. It was a group of three, two girls and a guy. Luna had found very few people that matched her in height, let alone someone that surpassed her. The guy that had entered the store made her feel small, she actually had to look up in order to talk with him. His dark brown hair was a mess and what parts weren't sticking out was lying flat. Gold eyes looked like they could care less about what he was looking at.

"Come on Brother," one of the girls said after they had spent some time looking at the display of knives. Like the guy, her brother apparently, this girl had gold eyes to. Her height was close to Luna's but she might be a bit taller. Her blonde hair was the same length as the boy's but looked like she'd actually taken the time to brush it. "Rin's paying and it would do you good enough to have one."

"I don't see why I need one. If anything I should be buying magicite, the ones I have weren't fully charged even before I started using them." The guy picked up a knife with disdain and barely looked it over before setting it back down. "Fire and Light already generate a steady stream. If I could get the materials I might be able to focus the power and generate a blade of some sort using magicite. The concept isn't all that different than the guns."

"Even I use a knife Sol. Magicite shouldn't be trusted, it can explode on you if you draw too much power," the last member of the group added. This girl had blue hair, much darker than Lucia's, and eyes of the same color. She was of an average height and reassured Luna that she was indeed tall.

"So says one of the few remaining pure humans." Sol picked up a small knife and twirled it in his hand before shaking his head and putting it back down. "Not my fault you have no magic blood in you and can't even draw out a magicite's power." Luna didn't know the guy or his relation with the blue haired girl but from the reaction he had crossed a line. Both the blue haired girl and the guy's sister smacked him across the face.

"A swear Solaris," the shorter girl sounded exasperated like she had said the following too many times to count. "You really need to work on your people skills. You won't be holed up in your lab for the rest of your life, at some point you're going to need to learn how to interact with other people."

He works in a lab? Luna thought as she looked the guy over once more. That would explain the white coat he's wearing and why I could snap him two. What's a brain like him doing in Jidoor? The nearest research center is in the capital. Well there is Clestia but I doubt anyone from Dalmasca has crossed the border.

"Let's face it Rin, this is the most time Brother has spent out of his lab ever since we moved. It'll probably be the only time he leaves it," the blonde laughed liked she had made a great joke.

"Excuse me," Luna said politely as she approached the trio. She couldn't just sit back and watch them anymore. "Are you three looking anything in particular?"

"Yes," the bluenette answered, "we need a knife that's strong enough to pierce scales and the length should be over four inches but nothing longer than eight." Based by how sure she sounded Luna guessed that the woman had been in her fair share of fights. "It'll see practical use so we won't need anything gaudy, just a simple fine crafted blade should suffice." Luna looked over the blades on display to find something that fit the woman's description. Finding nothing out on the floor Luna excused herself, there were a few knives in the back that were finished after all.

Heading into the back Luna was greeted with the heat of the running forge. While the shop was closing all three would all be working into the night today. Lucia had a long piece of heated steel on the anvil and was hammering out the edges while their father was busy pouring some of the molten metal into molds. Going through a box of finished knives Luna managed to find one that fit the order. The core of the blade was steel but there was a coating of silver on the outside. Checking to make sure that no standing orders already called for such a weapon Luna found none and head back out to the storefront.

"Will this work?" Luna presented the blade to the smaller girl figuring that she would be the one that would end up inspecting it anyway. After looking the knife over for a few and making a few flourishes that impressed Luna the woman nodded her head. "Alright that'll be two thousand six hundred for the knife, sheath not included." The siblings winced at the price that Luna rattled off but the blue eyed girl didn't seem phased in the least. Reaching for her purse the woman produced a few gold coins and counted them out. She let out a disappointed sigh as she realized that she didn't have enough to buy the knife.

"Sol, I told you to withdraw enough to buy supplies."

"Since when did weapons count as supplies?" Sol retorted.

"The second we started traveling monster infested lands." It looked as if the girl had more to say but she had the sense not to mention it allowed. Whatever it was she had hinted at Sol had gotten the idea and looked sorry for not thinking about it. "Are you guys open for much longer?"

"I was about to close up when you guys came in. If you guys have the money I can hold onto it till tomorrow with no problems. I'll just need a name in to write down cause my father or sister should be running the store tomorrow." Luna didn't plan on working in the shop any longer than she had to, she wanted to get back out and earn her money by slaying monsters for rich merchants.

"Solaris here," the blonde woman pointed to her brother, "will be the one to pick it up." Luna produced a small paper and wrote down the name. Wrapping the paper around the handle of the knife she put it under the counter so it could be easily found the next day.

"I hope they have some gold in stock," the blue haired girl said as the three exited the shop. Only one money lender had such a reputation. Luna couldn't understand why a person would leave their gold with Setzer Money Lender, sure they were the only business to span the world but they weren't reliable.

Locking the door once the three had left Luna closed the shutters to help prevent anyone trying to break in through the window. Before they had installed the shutters they had experienced a few thefts but since their installation there had only been failed attempts. Heading into the back Luna was once again greeted by the heat of the flames, it was something that she couldn't get used to. Grabbing a black apron Luna tied it one and set about providing what little help she could to her family.

Three hours after the sun had set the last sword was ready to have its wooden hilt attached. Lucia and Luna were left that part to their dad and headed up to their room. They were both tired and wanted to crash but by when they got to their room they couldn't just drop right into bed, they were far too dirty. Instead they grabbed a change of clothes and headed back downstairs. While most of their house was old fashioned and didn't rely on magicite both girls had talked their dad into getting Water Magicite for the purpose of bathing. It was a simple enough operation, use the blue crystal to fill the tub with water. Since they weren't putting force behind the water or converting into ice the amount of power spent on filling the tub was small, between the three of them it took over a year to drain a medium sized magicite.

Once bathed and dressed the girls headed up to their rooms for some much needed sleep. For Lucia she would have to take time off to practice her swordsmanship while Luna was out trying to find another job to bring home some gold. She had to earn enough to contribute to the family or she'd be forced to work the forge like Lucia. For both of them it'd just be another day in their lives. With Ronald not appearing today it was a safe assumption that he would be coming to the shop tomorrow. Having left behind such an expensive gift he'd make sure that he got to talk with Lucia soon after her having received it. Today had probably been spent worrying about where he had dropped it. While neither girl knew it they were both wishing for something to happen that would cause a change in their lives from the rut they had found themselves in.

Character Corner

Lucia Eldur

Age: 21

Owner: Wood Dog

Cool, calm, collected. She's the three Cs though the first might be replaced with "cold". While Lucia may have a tough exterior inside lies a girl willing to protect those dearest to her. The silent member of the group Lucia rarely speaks her mind only offering up advice when asked. Favoring the logical over the emotional she comes across as an ice queen. She is Luna's older half sister sharing only their father. A rare mixture Lucia has traces of Giganto in her blood giving her strength beyond what her small frame would allow.

Luna Eldur

Age: 19

Owner: Me, TheJadeDragon37

Hot tempered and outgoing Luna takes after her mother wholeheartedly. Sharing very little with her half sister Lucia, Luna is the more outspoken of the two. Not afraid to let others know what she is thinking Luna will pop in with her give her two cents on matter should she feel it's relevant. One of the few traits she shares with Lucia is their Giganto blood coursing through their veins, while Lucia only got strength from it Luna also got height making her taller than her older sister.